The Athi River Smart Green City project is intended to be pollution-free, and development is set to begin May 2022



Dubai-based Hilshaw Group will serve as exclusive advisor and project and financing consultant on a smart city project in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

The Athi River Smart Green City project, which is intended to be pollution-free, is located 10 kilometres from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, alongside the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway.

"As tragic as it is, there are some critical things we can learn from the pandemic. The world and we as a people were simply not ready or prepared for an occurrence that demanded social restrictions. And while the human race is known to be one of God's more adaptable creations, it is our creations, practices, and infrastructure that lacked flexibility. Thankfully the environment has been on everyone's mind for many years, and green cities are a future we are certain of. The 'smart' component of the Athi River project is being planned to be more adaptive in the face of future uncertainties,” said Lal Bhatia, Chairman, Hilshaw Group.
Development is set to begin May 2022, and the first phase is expected to be done by the end of 2025.

The development will be home to a self-contained community including commercial, offices, retail spaces, restaurants, hotels & a green resort, golf course, schools, university, community centers, hospitals, sports, leisure, and entertainment facilities in addition to over 4,000 residential units.
"Megaprojects like Athi River Smart Green City are only possible as a joint collaboration of experts, the public and private sectors, and like-minded visionaries. Similarly, evolutionary plans can only be achieved in the presence of teams and partners who themselves have the ability to evolve. Hilshaw Group has proven its ability to do so over the years and has its successes to prove it. We are delighted to have them as part of this monumental Kenyan dream," said Keshoney Elisha, President Jetblack Group.

The project principals, Kenya's Jetblack Group (Jetblack Energy), have planned the Smart Green City to be a pollution-free environment where the entire city’s energy production will be done through a Waste Power Plant. Waste from Machakos County and the Athi River Project will be processed through the Plant’s four Reactors to produce over 576MW in 24 hours with zero emissions. The projected volumes will be achieved by processing 400 tons of solid waste.

The public transport within the development will run exclusively on electric, hybrid and the Waste Power Plant produced Biogas. Residents will be issued special permits for conventionally powered vehicles upon fulfilment of emission regulations.

In addition to the City's Green infrastructure, urban planning is being done to adhere to post-pandemic requirements and social variations.